I'm still alive!

Well, quite a lot's happened since I last posted.

Helen, our younger daughter, got married to David on Friday November 12th. The marriage took place in a really lovely hotel over on the Wirral, the Brook Meadow hotel. The staff were incredibly helpful and friendly, I would wholeheartedly recommend the hotel to anyone looking for a wonderful place to get married.



It has quite an interesting history. It was built in 1860 by Major Bibby (of the Bibby Line, Liverpool). A private chapel was added in 1900, now used as a function room - we had the Wedding Breakfast in there. This was turned into a games room in 1903 by its new owner, and the house remained as a private residence until 1968 when the owner leased it to the Order of Franciscan Monks. In 1983 the house was sold and turned into a hotel, now owned by a local company - AE Reynolds PLC.

John and I were really amazed at our room, well I guess it's a bit insulting to call it a room, it was more of a suite! We had a sitting room with a comfortable sofa and easy chairs as well as a huge coffee table and a rather nice china ornament of a quail. The bedroom had windows looking out over the fields at the back of the hotel, and we spotted a squirrel (though sadly grey not a red) a couple of times. But it was the bathroom that really got me - the bath alone was about the size of our bathroom at home! A double sized bath with jacuzzi. I could get used to living like that! And even some of the rather strange paintings scattered around the room had a nautical theme, so John was happy.

There's a small picture of the chapel, where we ate both the Wedding Breakfast and Sunday breakfast (a rather hung over party!), on the Brook Meadow Hotel website. There are lovely gardens, and happily the sun shone for long enough on the big day for the wedding photos to be taken outside. But only after a few drinks of course!



And even John got dressed up, I don't think I've ever seen him looking so posh!



But it was Helen and David's day.



The meal was good, of course with a vegetarian option (our Helen has been a veggie since she was around 16) and the pudding was fantastic!



I think my Mum and Dad really enjoyed themselves though I feel the general hubbub was something of a problem for them. Here they are towards the end of the meal. Getting a bit tired by now I think.



Chrissie, who used to work with Helen at the Women's Hospital, gave the cake as a wedding gift.



Several of the party stayed overnight, the disco went on till after midnight. And so it was that the next morning David's car had been decorated.



John and I stayed over on Sunday night too, spent Sunday afternoon having a trundle along a nearby canal. But pictures of that are on the computer that died yesterday, and I haven't set up the external hard drive on this laptop yet.

On the gardening front my sweet peas are sprouting merrily, but the canary creeper only 2 seeds have germinated so far. The primroses are still flowering in the back yard, and the violets came into flower in the last week. The slugs have been seen already, but we have the nematodes to attack them with tomorrow. Several snails have taken flight over the wall into the alley behind. I still have rocket and schizanthus to sow, and the seeds that I harvested from last year's morning glories.



I'll try and update a bit more often - want to get back into the habit. And stil have lots of catching up to do!